Why I Hate Watching Tom Glavine

Tom Glavine's loss against the Rockies was the perfect example of why I hate having him on the Mets.

In the third inning with one out he gave up a couple of hits (to Tavarez and Carroll) which was a problem with Matt Holliday up. Glavine started him in an 0-2 hole then he does what he always does. Instead of throwing a pitch that he might swing at (and maybe hit), to try to get a double play, or a popup, Glavine threw three pitches that were nowhere close to the strike zone. On a 3-2 count Glavine threw one right down the middle and Holliday crushed it for a 3-run homer.

I know Glavine is not a hard thrower who can attack hitters and get them out. He has to rely on guile, and get them to swing at bad pitches. But sometimes he takes this strategy to an extreme, and not only is it ineffective, it's painfully difficult to watch.

A lot of Poopheads have disagreed with me on this one (particularly Master Bates and The Concierge, who not coincidentally both say they do not have time to watch the games, just see the box scores), but there is no arguing that this season Glavine has clearly been the worst of the Mets five regular starters.

I admit that Glavine does have a good postseason history (including two scoreless performances last year) but I am very worried about putting him on the mound in the playoffs against strong lineups (where he can't pitch around their best hitters), that take pitches (and don't swing at his junk).

One more thing that annoys me with Tom Glavine, this interminable chase for 300 wins. The announcers talk about it way too much. Every start is prefaced as the chase for win numer 290-whateverthefuck. Every out or run scored is viewed as a step or an impediment on the road to this great accomplishment. Enough already.